this to me is the most distressing part of this story. she's a lovely woman. we have lost her and it didn't have to go down like this. >> thanks to dr. drew. i'm don crude awakening. oil prices have americans paying more for gas than ever before this time of year. >> country music tragedy. mindy mccreadie dead of an parent suicide. >> and danica patrick does what no woman in nascar has ever done before. >> i think that so cool. >> yeah. >> very cool. super, duper unbelievably cool. >> exactly. give her more props. first woman ever. >> i was all into it. >> good morning. welcome to "early start."

>> it's clearly monday. it's february 18th, presidents day. let's get started. we're going to start two big stories that could affect your pocketbook. a cold freeze that could ruin crops in the south and gas prices skyrocketing. want s want to start with gas prices. they're going up and up and up. no sign of stopping. every day for more than a month gas prices have jumped. that is not the streak you want to be on. it is all happening in the dead of winter while americans try to cope with home heating bills and sli shrinking paychecks. we have a reporter live at a gas station in new york city. what do the prices look like there? >> reporter: hi, john. yeah, gas prices are certainly skyrocketing. over here on 10th avenue, you'll see regular gas $4.15. i'm looking at the board now. premium is still $4.45.

we're expected to see the numbers increase even further. let me shou the numbers. what it looks like in terms of the rest of the country. average price, $3.71. that's the average. but, you know, in some states, you know, it can get a lot higher than that. anyone in hawaii knows what i'm talking about. gas is $4.29 over there. the cheapest gas is in wyoming. $3.17 a gallon. this is really coming at a bad time for a lot of americans in this part of the country at least. people are spending more money on heating. they don't have the spare change to spare on gas prices getting higher. taxes also increasing for a lot of americans. at this particular gas station, i did speak to some taxi drivers who pulled in earlier this morning. i xad thasked them, what are yog to do? they told me that they're spending upwards of $60 a guy on gasoline. i stood by one guy as he filled up the tank. i saw the numbers rise much

these guys really are at the mercy of the pumps. obviously, they don't pick up more passengers. they are really going to feel it in terms of wages. john? >> the woman behind you is jumping up and down, clearly outraged at the prices she's seeing. either that or very, very cold right now. this just in, gas prices break for a 32nd day in a row. aaa out with a brand new national average. see, just in like i told you, $3.73 now for a gallon of regular. and also today what could be be another threat to your pocketbook, this one at the grocery store. jennifer delgado in the weather center right now with a freeze warning that could spell trouble for some of florida's citrus crops. people don't like it to get cold there. >> reporter: no, they don't want to threaten the orange juice. the reality is temperatures are bitterly cold this morning. we're talking temperatures in the 20s. we do have a hard freeze warning, anywhere you're seeing in blue. that includes parts of georgia as well as into florida and then a freeze warning in blue. what we're talking about temperatures, basically staying

in the mid 20s for two hours or more and right now you can see the numbers are already very close to that range. 27 for ocala and 26 for gainesville. jacksonville, 26. now how long will this last? looks like for tomorrow, we don't have a freeze warning in place. but keep in mind temperatures are still running 15 to 20 degrees below average this morning. i was talking to joe carter, you're going to see him very shortly. he said all his friends in m miami, it's cold out there. it's still 49 degrees in miami. >> oh, my goodness. you want sunshine, bathing suit weather. >> 80s. >> right. developing overnight, tragedy in the world of country music. singer mindy mccreedy is dead. the 37-year-old singer died from a self inflicted gunshot wound. she was found at her arkansas home yesterday. she had a string of hits and the turbulent personal life. her battles with alcohol, drugs, and the law were well

publicized. her death comes a month after her boyfriend david wilson, the father of her infant son died of an apparent suicide. mccready talked about that painful experience in her very last interview with nbc. >> i've never gone through anything this painful nor will i ever again go through anything this painful. >> gosh. that just breaks your heart. michelle turner is following all of the develop ams for us. she is live in our l.a. bureau. she had obviously been troubled for a very long time. had there been any recent signs that things were actually getting worse for her? >> well, you know, there were signs that she was struggling. she recently had a stint in rehab but reportedly checked herself out early. mindy mccready had a long history. but dr. drew who she first met while appearing had been his show says as far as he knew, she was getting better. he spoke to cnn's don lemon last night.

listen. >> she actually been doing very well. things were looking up for her. she had children with a boyfriend who ended up killing himself a few weeks ago. she was struggling after that. actually was admitted herself to a psychiatric facility. and there's a cautionary tale about the stigma of mental illness and the way in which the public attacks celebrities who take care of themselves. she became so fearful of the stigma and the way people were responding to her being hospitalized that she actually checked herself out prematurely and now we have what we have. >> you know, the mccready was not afraid to talk about her troubles. she posted a message to her fans on the website saying i haven't had a hit in a decade. i spent my fortune, tarnished my public view and made myself the brunt of punch line after punch line. i've been beaten, sued, robbed, arrested, jailed, and evicted but i'm still here. you know the heart of all these struggles she ultimately leaves

two children without their mothers, two boys, 10 years old and 9 months old. >> oh, my goodness. how terrible. michelle turner, thank you so much for following those latest develop ams for us. we appreciate it. >> that is a sad, sad ending to an already tragic story. new developments in the battle over immigration reform. republicans angry over details of the president's plan that had been leaked. they say they will fight any attempt by the administration to oppose reform. a key element to the proposal would put illegal immigrants or undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship after waiting eight years. the white house insists it is working with republicans to come up with a bipartisan plan. danica patrick making nascar history. she's the first woman to earn a pole position in nascar's sprint cup series. she did it at shir signature event, the daytona 500. patrick turned in a qualifying lap of more than 196 miles an hour to take the top spot at

daytona next sunday. >> i'm so excited about this. this was developing all weekends. it was really exciting to watch. joe carter is live in atlanta. you know, joe, danica patrick, no stranger to making history. she was the first woman to win an indycar series. shou is she reacting to this chint achievement? >> i'm sure, john, she's happy. she's proud. i'm sure she's a little relieved as well. yesterday she had to wait over two hours to secure that pole win. she went out eighth out of 43 cars. so 35 different drivers went after her. but danica, you know, over the years has made racing history before in indycar and stock car. but nothing like this. i mean winning the pole at the daytona 500 means she's going to start in the front row. but starting from the front, guys, does not mean she has a grate greater chance to win this race. the last person to win the pole and win the race was dale jarrett in 2000. but to become first woman to securehe top spot in nascar's

premier race is it by far the biggest achievement in her stock car career. she spoke with don lemon about that last night. >> i think that understanding the scope of what that means and what that will end up meaning is -- or if any, is something that happens down the road in the moment it's about thinking about what i need to do for next sunday and trying to make some more history. >> you know, the odds for her winning sunday's race dramatically increased, actually. she started out at $1125/1, now she's 21 is already 1. the statistics does not indicate she has a greater chance of winning this huge race. >> we're all excited about this. what is the reaction so far in the nascar world? >> i can tell you this, john, it's creating a buzz around the sport's premier race. in the next five, six days there's going to be more people talking about this race than there were last year. every driver from this news

benefits. more eyeballs are going to be tuning in to sunday's race, tuning into thursday's duel race, tuning into saturday's nationwide race. more people are going to become fans of nascar. this helps the sport that over the last few years suffered from the declining tv ratings. it's a milestone, obviously, for sports and, of course, for women as well. >> and that's a moment i don't want to lose sight ofment for women this is a very, very big moment. she's next to jeff gordon. thank you. appreciate it. >> our best of luck to her, obviously. more details emerging this morning about the olympic icon oscarallegedly murdered his model girlfriend. we're going to go live to south africa next. plus, a ritzy robbery has some brazen jewelry thieves manage to hit a high end new york hotel. i have low testosterone. there, i said it.

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oscar pistorius, the south africa olympic runner charged with murdering his model girlfriend. a south african official close to the case says that the model was shot four times through a bathroom door and he carried her down stairs while she was also alive. pistorius bowed out of five races he was scheduled to participate in this year to focus on this case against him. robin kerno is live from south africa with the latest for us. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. thanks so much for having me. we also know according to this official close to the investigation that the model was there to spend the night as at her boyfriend's house. her overnight bag and ipad were found in her bedroom. now these are the facts that we know. you mentioned them just a bit earlier there. we know for sure there is a lot of speculation, a lot of rumor going on at the moment. but i think in terms of the way south africa and the world is dealing with this, there is still this confusion as to why,

what happened in the early hours of valentine's day? crucially over the weekend we got a chance to hear and see reeva. take a look at this. >> just days after being shot and killed at the home of her boyfriend olympian oscar pistorius, reva stincom appeared on south african television. >> we fall in love with being in love in love. >> this is as her reality show began on saturday. as her television debut aired, her boyfriend, dumb bl amputee oscar pistorius spend the weekend in this jail. prosecutors plan to charge pistorius with her murder, a charge strongly rejected by pistorius and his family. this is his uncle flanked by his sister who struggles to keep herself together as they make a brief statement to the media. >> as can you imagine, our entire family is devastated. we are in a state of total shock. their plans together and oscar was happy in his private life.

>> reporter: investigators who have been combing through his house and this high security complex are starting to piece together what they think happened early on valentine's day. cnn has been told and local media is reporting that police believe pistorius shot her four time through a closed bathroom door and then carried her down stairs where she died. neighbors have told police that they heard shouting before the shooting. there is still no solid explanation as to why he may have shot her. pistorius appears in court on tuesday for the bail hearing. he hasn't entered a plea yet. while pistorius in court, vre reeva's family will have a memorial for her on wednesday. police release this final message from her meant to be to the cast but which now becomes her last words, her last

good-bye. >> i've had so many amazing memories and things that are in here and in here. i'll treasure forever. i'm going to miss you all so much. and i love you very, very much. >> just so sad, isn't it? you know, two families so absolutely destroyed by this. we are hearing from reeva's mom, first time she's speaking to this newspaper. my baby loved like no one else. she like everybody else in this country is asking why? why did he do it? what propelled him to do it? and there must be some sort of explanation which people are hoping they get more information at this bail application on tuesday. beyond that, still a lot of sad, hard people in this country. >> a lot of questions still. thank you very much. >> the reason is it is interesting and it look like she was spending the night and one of the avenues of defense is he

thought she was an intruder. that could make things more difficult for his defense. 17 minutes after the hour now. want i want to bring you up to speed. >> 32 days now and counting, that's how many days in a row that the gas prices have gone up. the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.73 a gallon. that is another $1.6 cents overnight. the increase is coming at a terrible time for americans. they're struggling with staggering home heating bills and shrinking pay cuts. payroll tax cuts expired last month. new this morning, hugo chavez returned to venezuela from cuba. in a message on his official twitter account, he said he'll continue his treatment in venezuela. the type of cancer he has or has has not been revealed. a leather air force one bomber jacket owned by president john f. kennedy sold at auction for $570,000. this jacket is part of a huge lot of kennedy memorabilia that

belonged to the late david powers, a close personal friend, a special assistant to j.f.k. the preauction expectation was $20,000 to $40,000. the identity of the winning bidder is not revealed. i'm not surprised it went for so much. you think of the image of j.f.k. in a bomber jacket, it's iconic. >> and it's a cool jacket. thank you so much, christine. these are anxious days in washington as millions of federal workers are facing furloughs. how congress could save the day. that's coming up. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

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we're reminding your business this morning, or trying at least. the stock market is closed in observance of president's day. stocks are still close to record highs and there is plenty to move the market this week. christine romans, how will the market close today? >> i know how it will close. this is one of the days when i know how markets will end up exactly as they closed on friday because they're closed. dow and s & p could hit record high this is week. check out the s & p 500. it is riding a seven-week winning streak. 4% from the all time high. the market pulled back from a solid start to 2013. we're looking for what kind of data is going to propel it to the new highs. we have a lot of data. two big readings on the housing market. housing starts along with bulling permits that, is new home construction, a new gauge of that. existing home sales comes thursday. as you know, existing home sales are 90% of the u.s. housing market.

so that will be a critical read on recovery in the housing market and also a fresh look the consumer price index. we know that gas prices are squeezing. gas prices are 20 cents high they are week than they were the same time last year. 20 cents higher. and you're taking less out of your paycheck because of payroll tax holiday expired. for those of you really worried about gas prices in new york and chicago. you're going to hit $4 a gallon earlier than we ever have in the year. so brace yourself there. also brace yourself if you're a federal worker. you're facing a furlough, unpaid days off. you can blame the sequester. a controller for the office of management and budget said this won't happen until after march 1st. that's when the massive spending cuts begin if congress doesn't act the sequester. federal employees must give a 30-day notice before furlough. unions that represent the workers right now having a big part in how that's going to happen and when. but there are 2.1 million federal employees that fall

under this cost cutting measure. so tough choices for the government right now. by the way, they're off. they're off. >> exactly. >> while they're facing the tough, tough challenges. >> whoever is in washington doing the sequester negotiations, 2.1 federal workers watching to see if they have to take unpaid days off to meet the mandated budget cuts. >> that's terrible. thank you, christine. >> 25 minutes after the hour right now. how is this for creepy. getting letters from a high profile convicted killer saying he wants to be your friend. we'll have more on this killer pen pal coming up. if you're leaving the house right now, can you watch us any time on your desktop or mobile phone. the patient, presented with

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no relief. gas prices up again. climbing now for more than a month straight. >> and new this morning, the man accused of slapping someone else's cranky toddler on an airplane hears from his bosses. >> you can't do that. >> leaked to the public, president obama's plan to giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. >> welcome back to "early start," everyone. >> nice to have you with us. it is monday morning. president's day. do you say happy president's day? >> absolutely. >> 29 minutes past the hour. moments ago we learned gas prices went up for a 32nd straight day. the national average for a gallon of regular is now $3.73. all this is happening in the dead of winter. a time when many of us are dealing with staggering home heating bills and shrinking paychecks from payroll tax cuts that expired last month.

zain asher is at a gas station in manhattan. you've been talking to a few of the new york cabbie who's are probably complaining this morning, i suspect. >> reporter: hi, yes. they certainly are. they're literally watching their wages, essentially, evaporate right before their eyes. let me just let you know that we are at a gas station on 10th avenue. gas prices here, $4.15. premium, $4.45. and the bad news is that we are expecting gas prices to rise further still. let me show you the numbers in terms of gas prices over the rest of the country. the average price of gas right now in the u.s., $3.73 a gallon as you mentioned. but there are places, there are some states where gas prices are even higher than that. places like hawaii, california. the most expensive place to buy gas is in hawaii. over there, gas prices $4.28 a gallon. and we're pretty envious of everyone in wyoming, $3.17.

as you mentioned, americans, especially in this part of the country where it is freezing cold, dweelg hiealing with high heating bills and tax increases leading to lower wages, of course. i did speak to some taxi drivers. they say they are definitely upset as they watch gas prices continue to rise. some of them spending upwards of $60 a day on gasoline alone. take a listen to what guy one told me. >> i support the family. and nowadays, it's more expensive. i pay $40 for the gas and i have to take 200 people to pay for the gas. so i take hardly, you know, sometimes $60 or $70. i work 12 hours. so that's not enough. >> reporter: and interesting statistic, i want to mention is that according to. eia, the average american spent $3,000 on gasoline in 2012.

representing 4% of the typical american income which is the highest percentage of american income spent on gasoline in the last 30 years. >> that's depressing. it's only going up. so what's pushing the prices up? >> reporter: essentially crude oil prices. they show signs of recovery as the housing market also shows signs of recovery. you're going to see demand for crude oil essentially going up. that is also pushing prices up. also refineries are closing down. typically this time of year refineries will close down for maintenance. we're also seeing some refineries close down permanently because they're losing money. that essentially constricts supply. and that pushes the prices of gasoline up. >> all right. zain asher reporting live. go get warmed up. thank you. big developments this morning about immigration reform. republicans telling the obama administration they'll fight any attempt by the who us to impose reforms without bipartisan input. they expressed anger of the

details of the president's draft proposal are leaked publicly. we have more from athena jones in washington. >> reporter: while president obama played golf with tiger woods at a private club in florida, his new chief of staff defended the white house against charges it's trying to sabotage congressional efrlts to reach a deal on immigration by drafting its own bill without consulting republicans. >> we're doing exactly what we said we would do which is we'll be prepared in the event the bipartisan talks going on the hill which were very aggressively supported, if those do not work out, then we'll have an option that will be ready to put out there. >> reporter: white house says its immigration bill is a plan b. if congress doesn't act. but a draft of the bill obtained by "usa today" drew fire from republicans who support the white house. marco rubio called it half baked, seriously flawed and dead on arrival. rubio, like john mccain, is a key gop negotiator.

>> leaks don't happen in washington by accident. this raises the question that many of us continue to wonder about. does the president really want to a result or does he want another reason to beat up republicans so he can get political advantage in the next election? >> reporter: in the draft from "usa today," the white house would let undocumented immigrants apply for a new visa so they could legally live and work in the u.s. they could seek perm nents rane residency if they lose english, u.s. history and civics. the white house insists they are committed to working with republicans. >> we're going to continue to work with senator rubio on these. he says it's dead on arrival, let's make sure it doesn't have to be proposed. >> reporter: negotiators plan to unveil their draft legislation next month. 34 minutes paragraph tst th. police questioning two men after

her daughter was killed. she was gunned down friday night in the suburban down of north chicago, illinois. the 18-year-old victim's mother she was out walking with friends and one of them may have been the intended target of the gunman. hours before she decide, mcfarland's 14-year-old sister attended president obama's address in chicago. >> four letters written by john lennon's killer to the cop who arrested nipp eed him in 1983 a sale today. in the letters, he says he hopes they can be friends and that he feels close to the officer offer since his arrest. t sentencing bureau says he told them why he killed the former beetle in 1980. >> i spent five hours with him after i arrested him. and he was telling me about all the phoniness in the world that all these rich people don't give to the certain charities that, you know, he would like.

three years after this guy killed john lennon that he admits he had a hit list. >> he claims chapman's hiss list was jackie kennedy onassis and walter cronkite and actor john c. scott. those letters are going for an asking price of $75,000. >> a man accused of slapping a toddler onboard a delta airlines flight is out of a job this morning. 60-year-old joe hundley charged with assaulting a minor was suspended by his employer. but now the company says they have let him go. according to court papers, jessica bennett and her 2-year-old son were sitting next to hundley on a minneapolis flight this month when the boy became fussily, hundley used a racial slur and slapped that little boy in the face. >> i could not believe that he would say something like that and -- to a baby or about a baby and then to hit him was just,

i -- i felt like i was in another world. i was shaking. >> unbelievable. bennett and her husband called the actions heinous and hateful. hundley's attorney says he plans to plead not guilty to the assault charge. a southern california woman can finally hohn yort hero father that she never knew. her father died in 1945 right before she was born. his world war ii medals including a purple heart and silver star were discovered in a box in a west hollywood apartment building laundry room four months ago. sunday they were handed over to highland. >> the fifth one i opened had all the letters in it. and staring me in the face was a purple heart. >> tears of joy and surprise and shock. but to me, it means today we are honoring his memory. >> his father was second lieutenant heiman markel. they confirm for her what a great man he really was.

37 minutes hast past the hour. to the rest of the world, a fascinating sight. but to those up close, a really terrifying experience. more on this meteor impact on the people of one community coming up. >> it was terrifying to me. >> no kidding. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. ep seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one.

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welcome back to "early start." this morning people are still picking up the pieces after that massive meteor shot through the sky over russia. that meteor triggered a blast that damaged buildings, blue ewt windows and injured thousands of people, many of them children. we have a reporter live at the lake where the meteor appeared to hit the how are people doing today, phil? >> reporter: well, john, where i'm standing, people are curious, inquiztive because they're coming here to this frozen lake to get a look at a confirmed impact site of at

least part of this meteor. the hole in the ice, although it started to freeze over again, is just behind me here. over the weekend russian scientists have been combing this area. they say they found 53 confirmed meteorite fragments. they say the makeup of the fragments, they are small. they say they are high in iron and consistent with meteorite that's have been found everywhere else around the world. so the scientists are pretty sure they know what came down here. but the time that thing was streaking through the sky, the people of this region have no idea what was going on. they were terrified. some are very rattled, especially the children. this small siberian village is usually a quiet place. 1,000 people living just south of the city. but on friday morning, they, like everyone in the region, were shocked by what they saw. an intense light followed by a trail of smoke across the sky. this kindergarten worker says

the 20 children who were in this room ran to the window when she saw the lightment she felt something was wrong and moved them away. she says she was still facing the windows when the meteor's shock wave hit. as the windows blew in, flying glass cut olga's face and hands. she didn't notice because she was worried about the children. most were safe but terrified. but one was bleeding heavily. this 3-year-old sasha suffered deep cuts to her head and face. her mother ran to the kindergarten after she heard the blast. i was shaking, she says. i grabbed her and started to calm her down. a lot of kids were crying, too. this woman was also in the room that morning. she wasn't hurt physically by the blast but her mother says she's traumatized. she's been too afraid to stand next to windows and she keeps asking if the glass is going to break again.

this woman says she understands what the children of this village are feeling am she says the blast was so terrifying it rekindled her own childhood memories from the second world war. most of the visible damage to the buildings and people of this region can be easily repaired. but the meteor's impact on some will take longer to heal. so while some pieces have been found on the surface, a mystery remains what now lies beneath the ice? the scientists are pretty sure that larger fragments of the meteor are sitting at the bottom of the lake. divers went in over the last couple days, they couldn't see anything. it's very city down there. the visibility is very poor. so scientists believe the best chances of finding remaining fragments will come with the spring when the snow and ice melt. they'll be able to access the lake more easily across this vast snow covered sigh deberian landscape.

they're sure that fragments made tote other areas. >> that will be so interesting to see. such a terrifying story. thank you for being with us this morning. 44 minutes past the hour. whiskey drinkers, toasting a change of heart from a big bourbon maker all thanks to you, the customer. that story coming up. plus, hungry rabbits, yes, hu hungry rabbits wreaking havoc at a major airport. how could something so cute cause so much trouble? omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro.

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48 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here is christine romans with our top stories. >> we learned less than an hour ago that for 32 straight days now gas prices are up. the spike is happening at a terrible time for millions. the national average for a gallon of regular, $3.73 a gallon this morning. and, you know, folks over at gas buddies says you'll see $4 a

gallon in new york city area and chicago. earlier thissier than we ever have before. this comes at a time when we're struggling with high home heating bills and shrinking pay cuts. a brazen jewelry heist at a posh manhattan hotel, two young men walked into the lobby of the four seasons at 2:00 saturday morning and while one of them spoke to staff members sh the other pulled out a sledgehammer and smashed open a case filled with jacob & company jewelry. they made off with $160,000 in watches and pend ants just like that. chalk up another win for argo. ben affleck's film beating "lincoln" again. it completes a sweep of the four major gild awards. next up for "argo," the oscars. don't water down the whiskey. come on! don't mess with my whiskey. that was the outcry from makers

marked bourbon makers. they abandoned the plans to water down the product. thousands of makers protested and now in fact -- >> you won. they won. >> the long national nightmare is over. >> i was actually watching that story very closely. >> do you drink it? is that krur drink of choice? >> no, but i buy it. my fiance drinks it. i wonder why are you doing this? i thought it was a ploy. >> it's a conspiracy. >> yes. indeed. >> and it's over. >> they say it tastes the same. >> from whiskey to orange juice, maybe together, farmers on edge today with plunging temperatures in the southeast. jennifer delgado is in the weather center in atlanta right now. what weather are we talking about? >> i don't know. i think that sounds like dangerous combination, mixing that with orange juice. we are talking about cold temperatures out there. once again this time in florida.

and now this means this could threaten the citrus crop. of course, we're worried about that. temperatures right now this morning are in the 20s. gainesville as well as jacksonville, 26 degrees. now we are looking at temperatures remaining very cold through about 9:00 a.m. and that's why we do have that hard freeze warning in place as well as the freeze warning. anywhere especially in the northern part of florida as well as in central florida, that's where we're going to be experiencing the coldest temperatures. typically it takes about four hours for temperatures below 26 to start to see some of the crops damaged. but, of course this is home to so much of the orange juice around the world. another area dealing with cold condition and strong winds coming especially later in the day, up in the northern plains. in fact, we have a blizzard warning affecting north dakota and into northern parts of minnesota. that means we're going to be looking at winds today gusting up to about 40 miles per hour. this is going to be blowing that know. right now, fairly quiet. it will be kicking in. as we get through the day, we'll

see some locations picking up eight to ten inches of snowfall. on a wider picture though, rain through parts of the midwest. that extends all the way down towards texas. quiet in the northeast. again, continues to be cold down in florida. we'll send it back over to you. >> all right. jennifer, thank you very much. 70% of the country's orange juice comes from florida. when you see temperatures like that down there, you know -- >> you're going to be paying more money. >> it is a big deal. 5 # minut 52 minutes after the hour now. president obama finally getting to play a round of golf with tiger woods. it took four years to coordinate. they met at the inauguration in 2009. they vowed to play a round some day. one of the things that slowed it up, there's a little bit of a scandal for tiger woods right there. he had a couple years where i don't think the president would be too happy to be seen playing golf with him. now it happened. even though the white house let zero pictures happen of the vent. they would not let the white house press corps see it or photograph it. rest assured, it did happen. president obama and tiger woods have played golf together along

with houston astro's owner jim crane and outgoing u.s. trade rep ron kirk. >> it caused que a commotion in that area. a lot of private planes had to be he is exhorted by f-16s. imagine that, you're in your little cessna and two f-16 fighter jets on either side. >> and the girls were in aspen. >> they were skiing. so he had time off. >> yes. >> all right. 5:53. they are cute and cuddly and causing major damage at a airport. what do when the bunnies attack? . ...with geico... ohhh...sorry! director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...what...what did i say? gecko? i said gecko? aw... for over 75 year...(laughs. but still trying to keep it contained) director's voice: keep it together. i'm good. i'm good. for over 75...(uncontrollable laughter). what are you doing there? stop making me laugh. vo: geico. saving people money for over seventy-five years.

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welcome back. 56 minutes past the hour.

we're taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. when bunny rabbits attack, hundreds of these critters are doing thousands of dollars worth of damage to parked cars. this is denver international airport. it seems they really like to hide under warm engines and they love to chew on the ignition cables. apparently they're made of some soy product. so officials hope granulated coyote urine will get the rabbits out of their hair. >> you are a big supporter of the coyote urine. >> that's exactly what i would do. get rid of them. >> all right. 57 minutes after the hour right now. sink a half court shot and get a semester free tuition. >> great story. >> the head basketball coach at canada's university gave it a shot. nothing but net. this is the tuition shootout. it's been a staple at friday home games for brandon's men's and women's teams. the athletic department decided to give the option of anyone in the building take the half court shot for them instead of picking

a player, one lucky student chose the coach. that was a very, very smart choice. and a very good shot. a semester free tuition. well done. >> the coach said pick me and the kid did. look at that. >> all right. to check out our other top cnn trends, head to cnn.com/trends. >> there are plenty of big stories in the news over the last few weeks which means lots of material for the late night comedians. so you knew it was soon as it happened that saturday night live would take marco rubio's watergate moment and run with it. but it was their carnival cruise spoof that had people talking and laughing all weekend. >> one of the helicopters flying above us dropped down a couple papers. we thought we would catch you up on what you missed this week, all right? >> hey, hey, there is a god! there is a god. he has not abandoned us, okay? let's see what's in the news. the pope resigned. oh, lord.

>> wait. hey. here's something fun. north korea successfully launched a nuclear -- nope. >> here we go. i got one. hey, you guys remember oscar hi pistorius? do you remember the olympic runner? it says here that -- nope, nope, no. >> okay. hey, this is interesting. okay. you guys think you might have it bad. but do you have it worse than 4,000 stranded on nightmare cruise, that is about us. >> yeah. >> that's enough. enough of the headlines! >> "early start" continues right now. crude awakening. oil prices have americans paying more for gas than ever before at this time of year. country music tragedy, what drove troubled singer mindy mccready to apparently take her

own life? and making history. danica patrick does what no woman in nascar has ever, ever done before. ever, ever done before. a big deal. very excited for danica patrick. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. monday, february 18th, 6:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started, shall we? two big stories we're following this morning that could both affect your pocketbook. a cold freeze could ruin crops in the south. and gas prices skyrocketing for 32 days in a row now. while you were sleeping, gas rose 1.6 cents overnight to a new national average of 3.73 a gallon. increase is coming at an awful time for millions of americans. zain asher is at a new york city gas station. what are drivers saying? >> reporter: drivers are definitely dismayed. gas prices pretty exorbitant.

$4.15. that's for regular. premium as high as $4.45. we do expect gas prices to continue to rise. let me show you the numbers so you can see what it looks like across the country. arrive price, $3.73 a gallon in hawaii, that's the highest -- where the highest gas prices are. $4.28. the cheapest is actually in wyoming. $3.17. and as you mentioned, zoraida, a bad time for americans in terms of price increases. gasoline. you have more americans spending more on heating bills and tax increases as well that has a huge effect on wages. drivers here were really dismayed as they watched gas prices increase and paychecks decrease. what some people had to say. >> i don't have no choice.

what it is. what can i do? i still buying it. i can't do nothing about that. >> i have to support the family, and it's -- now days pretty expensive. i pay $40 for the gas, and $200 for the taxi. so i take hardly, you know, sometimes $60, $70. i work 12 hours, so it's not enough. >> reporter: also i want to mention one interesting statistic. the eia said in 2012, the average american spent $3,000, representing 4% of the typical american worker. that's the highest percentage income spent on gasoline in the last 30 years. zoraida. >> so frustrating, because there is not much we can do about it, zain. thank you very much. a freeze warning you might soon feel at the grocery store.

jennifer delgado following the developments right now. >> hi, zoraida. temperatures continue to fall. 25 degrees for many locations, ok allah, jacksonville, gainesville. temperatures dangerously cold throughout the morning. that's why we have a hard freeze warning in place cross parts of northern and central florida. anywhere you see blue this means we are expecting temperatures to stay in the mid 20s and that will last until 9:00 a.m. look at the cold air extending down toward areas including south florida. of course, we talked about gas prices. but how does this affect florida and the citrus crop? i want to point out for florida it is really essential to the economy. keep in mind, florida grows 75% of the orange crop in the u.s. and then 40% of the world's orange juice supply. so certainly this is an area that we need to follow. as we go through the rest of the

morning, we'll see numbers climb above freezing by 10:00 a.m. we'll continue to follow that. and zoraida, everybody is wearing purple insteexcept john. >> typically he wears purple. but today he did not. >> i'm sorry i screwed up everyone's plans. i'll try to do better. the country music world in mourning that troubled singer mindy mccready committed suicide. she was found dead in her arkansas home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. last month, the father of her 10-month-old son died afternoon apparent suicide. she talked about that painful, awful experience weeks ago in her last interview with nbc. >> i have never gone through anything this painful.

nor will i ever again. >> michelle turning following developments from los angeles. good morning, michelle. >> good morning, john. a really tragic end to a troubled life. mindy mccready was seeking help. she checked in to rehab. she appeared on "celebrity rehab," as far as he knew she was trying to get better. spoke to don lemon last night. listen. >> she had been doing very well. things looking up for her. she had children with a boyfriend who ended up killing himself a few weeks ago. she was struggling after that. actually, was admitted herself to a psychiatric facility. and there is a cautionary tale here about the stigma of mental illness and the way the public attacks celebrities who take care of themselves. she became so fearful of the stigma and the way people responded to her being

hospitalized she checked herself out prematurely and we have what we have. >> at the heart of mccready's struggle she can leaves two children without their mother. other stars went to twitter. carrie underwood said i grew up listening to mindy, so sad for her family tonight. and leann rimes says my heart goes out to mindy's family. i knew her well. it's a horrible tragedy. may peace be with her son's. and wynonna judd said unbelievable and sad. god be with the family and those babies, surround them with your grace and mercy. just a bizarre side note. mccready is the third person

from her season on "celebrity rehab" to die. mike starr of alice in chains of an overdose and joey cobar died of of opiate intoxication. so sad. and hugo chavez has returned to venezuela. he will continue his treatment in venezuela. the type of cancer he is bat limg has not been revealed. and a new development in the battle over immigration reform. republicans angry about president obama's plan that have been leaked and warned they will fight any attempt by the administration to impose reform without input from them. a key element of the draft proposal would put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship after waiting eight years. the white house insists it is working with republicans to come up with a bipartisan plan.

danica patrick racing into history. living in the really fast lane. she earned the pole for the daytona 500. in fact, the first time a woman sat in the pole position for any nascar sprint cup series. she has the inside track for daytona next sunday. joe carter live in atlanta to tell us more about this really historic moment. >> good morning, guys. a milestone moment for sports and for women as well. danica patrick has to be happy, proud and relieved. yesterday, she had to wait for two hours to secure the pole win. 35 cars had to go after her. an anxious moment. certainly, danica in indycar and stock car career, made history racing before. but not like this. winning the poll means danica's car will start front row on sunday, but starting from the front doesn't necessarily mean

she has a greater chance of winning on the daytona 500. the last driver to win the pole and the ration was 13 years ago. to secure the top spot is by far her big 'chooechlt in her stock car career and she spoke with cnn's don lemon about that last night. >> i think understanding the scope what that means and what that will end up meaning, or if any, something that happens down the road. in the moment, it's about thinking about what i need to do for next sunday and trying to make some more history. >> now, nascar's history or statistics do not suggest danica patrick has a good chance on sunday. vegas believes she has a better chance. her odds 125-1 before she won the pole. now 22-1. vegas likes her odds. >> we'll go with vegas, at least

i am. what's reaction from the nascar world? >> this creates a lot of buzz around the sport, around the premiere race. every driver in nascar benefits from this. more eyeballs will tune in to thursday's duel race, saturday's nationwide race, sunday's big race. more people are going to become fans of nascar than before. this helps the sport of nascar that's suffered from declining tv ratings. as they said before this is a mile phone for sports and women this is a big week for the daytona 500. 12 years ago today, dale earnhardt died on the very famous track. >> thank you very much. next hour, soledad will speak with lyn st. james. rookie driver in 1992. the first woman to win that award. and more details emerging about the night olympic icon is car pistorius allegedly murdered his model girlfriend, including more details about the room where the killing seemed to take place. live to south africa, that

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welcome back, everyone. major developments in the case of oscar pistorius, the south african olympic runner charged with murdering his model girlfriend. a south african official close to the case telling cnn that reeva steenkamp shot four times through a bathroom door at the pistorius home and that he carried her downstairs while she was still alive. we've also learned that pistorius has been forced to bow out of five races that he was scheduled to participate in. we have more from south africa. good morning, robyn. >> reporter: we know that reeva steenkamp was planning to spend the night at her boyfriend's house. they found an overnight bag and herridge pad as well. what perhaps started off as a

prevalentine's evening turned out so tragic, bloody, so badly the next morning. we're starting to hear from reeva's family. her mother speaking to this newspaper for the first time. the headline, "my baby loved like no one else." she, like everyone else in the country is asking why, why, why. still real no sense of what created this tragedy and what fueled oscar to shoot her. those sorts of questions i think might be answered in a bail application hearing on tuesday. but also, another development in all of this is that rather strangely, rather eerily, reeva made her television debut on south african screens. take a look at this. just days after being shot and killed at the home of her boyfriend, olympian oscar pistorius. reeva steenkamp appeared on south african television. >> you fall in love with love. >> this is how the beach

adventure began. while the television adventure began, her boyfriend oscar pistorius spent the weekend in jail. prosecutors plan to charge pistorius with her murder. a charge strongly rejected by pistorius and his family this is his uncle, flanked by his sister, who struggles to keep herself together as they make a brief statement together. >> as you can imagine, our entire family is devastated. we are in a state of total shock. oscar was happy in his private life than i've seen him in a long time. >> reporter: investigators combing through his house in this high-security complex are starting to piece together what they think happened on early valentine's day. cnn has been told and local media is reporting that steenkamp was shot four times through a closed bathroom door, and then pistorius carried her downstairs where she died. neighbors told police they heard

shouting before the shooting. still no solid explanation as to why he might have shot her. pistorius appears in court on tuesday for a bail hearing. he hasn't entered a plea yet. while pistorius is in court, reeva's family said there will be a memorial service on tuesday. south africans will be able to watch adventures on the reality show, which airs for another nine weeks. producers leased this final message from her, meant to be to the cast which now becomes her last words. her last good bye. >> i take with me so many amazing memories and things that are in here that i will treasure forever. i will miss you all so much. i love you very, very much. >> reporter: imagine how hard it is for her family to watch that. >> awful to see that. robyn curnow. thank you very much. here is christine rom

answers with top stories. >> reporter: gas prices going up 32 days in a row. 1.6 cent increase overnight, sending the national average for a gallon of unleaded to $3.73 per gallon. hikes creating a lot of misery with americans dealing with home heating bills rising and shrinking paychecks thanks to the payroll tax cuts expiring. in new york city or chicago, expect to see $4 a gallon earlier this year than ever before. the man behind the bombing of the world trade center in 1994 is asking for a break. ram ramzi yousef is lifting a life sentence and is not able to communicate with the rest of the world. his lawyer is asking for a lifting of that restriction. a leather bomber jacket

owned by president john f. kennedy has sold for $570,000. this belonged to late david powers, the identity of the winning bidder has not been revealed. and john berman has not said whether he's in or not. >> i have a jacket already. it's not $500,000. let me tell you that right now. 19 minutes past the hour. how many of do you this. check out an item in the store and look for a cheaper price online? absolutely. best buy's plan to end that strategy forever. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. and this week on "the next list" -- >> like to work with electronics in fashion and that's kind of what people stereo typically think of as adding technology to a garment. this is a thermo chromatic scarf

i created. one of my favorite materials to work with is thermo chromatic. it changes temperatures with color. when you wear it in cold temperatures, snowflakes appear and they grow larger as the temperature gets colder. so i put an ice pack underneath. when the temperature drops below 65 degrees, a small snowflake appears, but at 32 degrees, it's colder and the snowflake will grow larger. >> oh, my gosh. how do you do that? >> with the thermo chromatic. >> sunday on "the next list." [ whirring ] [ creaking ] [ male announcer ] trophies and awards lift you up. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, what's next?

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hurry. $14.95 won't last. welcome back to "early start" this morning, everyone. we're minding your business. the stock market closed in observance of president's day. thank you, calvin coolidge. a little respect for calvin. we'll talk to christine romans about business. >> you will slide as many presidents in as you can. the stock market closed, so you can think about as many dead presidents as you want. s & p 500 on a seven-week winning streak. up 10% this year. will it hit highs this year? ist it's within shouting distance. best buy is ending its showrooming. the idea that you go there and

you buy the product there you can't go there to price shop. stores -- best buy will match prices of all local retailers and 20 online competitors. did this on the trial basis for the holidays. best buy struggles, because online retailers like amazon lures them away. they go to best buy to see what they want to buy and go online to buy it from someone else, so this is a big change for best buy. very big change. >> what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> watch mortgage rates. very, very low here again this week. i think we have 3.5% is where they sit right now. 30-year fixed rate. 30.5%. a bunch of housing data. i expect to see these rates like rocket fuel for the housing market. 15-year fixed. 2.77%. 15-year fixed. 2.77%. rates very low. a lot of housing data this week.

you will continue to see this very good sort of mix for first time home buyers. >> almost free. appreciate it. 25 minutes past the hour. doctors concerned about a brand new deadly sickness that spreads person to person like sars. more on symptoms and how it's being treated. coming up. transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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climbing every day now for more than a month straight. is it the next sars? doctors on forward after discovering a new case of a deadly virus. and new this morning, the man accused of slapping someone else's cranky toddler on an airplane hears from his bosses. >> i bet it wasn't good news. >> not the kind of news he wants to get, i'm sure. i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 30 minutes past the hour. gas prices are skyrocketing while millions of paychecks you know are shrinking. every day for a month now, gas prices have jumped. national average for the price of regular unleaded is 3.73. up 1.6 cents. that happened overnight. zain asher in new york city. i imagine drivers are angry this morning. what can you do? >> reporter: there is simply not much we can do. at this particular gas station on tenth avenue, gas prices are

certainly a lot higher than the national average. regular gas here, $4.15. premium $4.45. bottom line, we will see gas prices rise even higher, terms of the national average, $3. 73 per gallon is the national average. some states where gas prices are even higher than that. i'm talking about hawaii, california. hawaii, the most expensive place to buy gas. $4.28. california, not much far behind. $4.10. and in wyoming, the cheapest place to buy gas. $3.17. you mentioned, zoraida, that americans are spending more money on heating bills. also, paychecks shrinking. taxes are going up. i spoke to some taxi drivers who say they are spending as much as $40 a day, $60 per day. here is what they had to say. >> i have to support the family. and now days it's pretty expensive. i pay $40 for the gas to take myself and $200 for the taxi.

so i take home sometimes 60, $70. i work 12 hours. it's not enough. >> reporter: some drivers say they watch gas prices rise so much, their take home pay is shrinking to $40 a day, $30 a day. >> everybody is so maxed out. what is pushing the price so high? >> crude oil is to blame. you will see demand for crude oil increase. refineries. refineries closing down. some of them closing down for maintenance. some refineries are closing down for good and that's causing supply to shrink and pushing prices up. zoraida. >> zain asher in manhattan, thank you.

medical news that might put you on edge. a new corona virus in the uk, potentially fatal sars-like virus identified in september of last year. experts say they would not be surprised if it came to the u.s. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us now. explain this to us. how dangerous is this? >> this vir success particularly vicious, john. you talked about 12 cases. 5 out of those 12 have died. people get pneumonia and kidney disease, but -- and here is an image right from the authorities in the united kingdom. that's the bad news about the virus. and the good news about the virus, it's actually hard to get. it's thought people are getting from animals, but once it gets to people, but not spreading from what we can tell person to person to person to person. not seeing long chains of transmission like we do every year with the flu. it is possible that there has

been some person-to-person transmission, but it's been very limited and so far, they think they have only seen it among people living in the same households. they are not seeing it like by sitting next to a sick person on the airplane. >> we did call it a sars-like virus. that doesn't sound good. how scared should people be about this? >> the experts i talked to said people should not freak out. those were their exact words. they said, again, we're not seeing say someone get on a bus and the rest of the bus get sick. that's not what's happening. what we have seen so far is that this appears to have started in the middle east and now we're seeing the few cases in the united kingdom. but, again, not seeing long chains of person-to-person transmission. the same expert said you know what? wouldn't be surprised if it came to the united states given the volume of global travel. but it could be one person and might stop there.

>> something to watch nevertheless. elizabeth cohen, thank you very much. 34 minutes past the hour. the top trend on the web. the man accused of slapping a toddler on a minneapolis to atlanta flight has lost his job. 60-year-old joe hundley was suspended by the aerospace defense company he works for. now he's been fired. he is charged with assault for allegedly slapping the 2-year-old after using a racial slur, leaving the boy as mother in shock. >> i could not believe that he would say something like that. and to a baby or about a baby and then to hit him was just -- i felt like i was in another world. i was shaking. >> they would have been arresting me for slapping the guy. hundley's attorney says he will be pleading not guilty. do mott mess with maker's mark. that's the message from the

lovers of the high-end bourbon. they have abandoned plans to water down the product. the idea was to stretch the supply to meet rising demand. thousands of maker's mark customers have protested. it won't. >> you won! president obama finally getting tee it up with tiger woods. took four years for this to happen. they met at the 2009 inauguration and vowed to play a round someday. when the first lady decided to take the first daughters skiing in colorado, the president hit the links in palm city, florida. jim crane and ron kirk also played. >> i'm sure the president enjoyed playing with tiger woods. this ended the rehabilitation for tiger woods. >> this is legitimate now? >> if you are playing golf with the president, your image is probably fully intact once again. 36 minutes past the hour right now. take a look at this how is this for creepy? getting letters from a high

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we're joined by a very dangerous soledad o'brien, looking at "starting point." >> you want my jacket, don't you? >> i do. she's making history once again. danica patrick snags the daytona 500 pole position. something a woman has never done before. can she bring home the big victory next weekend? we'll speak with lyn st. james, 1992 rookie of the year. first woman to win that award. a man loses his job after accused of out of control behavior on a plane.

a couple said he screamed at them to keep their toddler quiet, he then used the "n" word and smacked the kid. the youngest person ever to be nominated for best actress oscar. i sit down with the star of "beast of the southern wild" and she is too much. quvenzhane wallis. 41 minutes past the hour. citrus farmers on edge. jennifer delgado in the weather center. what can you tell us? >> it is certainly cold across parts of southern florida. temperatures falling. we have 25 degrees out there. popular temperatures from gainesville, jacksonville, and temperatures will stay below freezing as we go through the next couple of hours. in fact, a hard freeze warning in place until 9:00 a.m. that means some of the vegetations, like oranges, of course. the vegetation that certainly

doesn't need cold temperatures. we'll look at this potentially affecting the region through 9:00 a.m. especially in blue. this is where it's going to be the coldest. keep in mind, it takes about four hours with temperatures below 28 degrees to start to see damage out there. but, of course, temperatures this cool out there not a good situation. as we show you right now, high temperatures for the afternoon. will warm up nicely. mid to upper 60s. temperatures running 15 to 20 below average across parts of florida. up in the northern plains, still dealing with snow. in fact, a blizzard walk rning place. we'll see snow blowing around with winds at 40 miles per hour. in effect until 6:00 this evening. you can see the snow right now, some of these locations, 5 to 10 inches of snowfall. also talking about the working into western parts of michigan tomorrow. really the weather goes down very late tonight, but on a wider view, expect windy

conditions across parts of the midwest. storms screaming from texas all the way to missouri into iowa. out in the west, warm and sunny, but, of course, down in the south. very chilly. >> thank you very much many. gas prices going up for a 32nd consecutive day. a 1.7 cent increase overnight. sending the average to $3.73. these hikes are creating a lot of misery with americans dealing with home heating bills and shrinking paychecks, thanks to the payroll tax cuts that expired. >> two men are being questioned in the death of a woman who was killed just hours after her teenage sister attended a speech on gun violence by president obama. there is her picture right there. janae mcfarland was gunned down. she was out walking with friends and one of them may have been the intended target of the gunman. hours before she died, her

14-year-old sister attended president obama's gun violence address. four letters written by john lennon's killer are up for sale. he says he feels close to the officer ever since the arrest. listen to spiro tell cnn why chapman said he killed the former beetle. >> he was telling me about all of the phoneiness in the world, that all of these rich people don't give to the certain charities, that, you know, he would like. three years after this guy killed john lennon, that he admits that he had a hit list. >> spiro claims chapman's hit list included jackie kenned onassis, walter cronkite and more. the asking price?

$75,000. among the few humans who have experienced a falling meteor up close. they are telling the really terrifying story. live in russia, up next. when push comes to shove. a college coach looks to motivate one of his players. more ahead. the one thing that 99 percent of investors can expect to find

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welcome back to "early start." people in russia cleaning up the mess after a massive meteor shot right through the sky.

imagining up to that? it injured more than 1,000 people, many of them live this near chelybinsk, russia at the lake where the meteor actually hit. how are people doing there today? >> reporter: well, today, sfw r zoraida, they are curious and are trekking across the lake to get a look at the confirmed point of impact. a fragment of the meteor, still in the sky, plummet to the earth and smash into the lake. they saw snow and ice go into the area and then steam coming up from the hole. behind us is a large hole of the ice. part of the is frozen over, it must have been hit by something of great force. here on the surface, russian scientists have found 53 individual pieces of the

meteorite, so they now know what it was. at the time when that thing hurt li ling through the sky, people didn't know what it was. they were terrified. many still rattled by it, especially the children. >> reporter: this small siberian village, usually a quiet place. 1,000 people living just south of the city of chelyabinsk. on friday morning, they, like everyone in the region, were shocked by what they saw. an intense light, followed by a trail of smoke across the sky. kindergarten worker olga said the 20 children in the room ran to the windows when they saw the light. she felt something was wrong and she moved them away. she was still facing the windows when the shock wave hit. when the windows blew in, flying glass cut olga's face and hands. she didn't notice because she

was worried about the children. most were safe but terrified, but one was bleeding heavily. 3-year-old sasha suffered deep cuts to her head and face. her mother ran to the kindergarten after she heard the blast. i was shaking she says. i grabbed her and started to calm her down. a lot of kids were crying too. another woman was also in the room that morning. she wasn't hurt physically by the blast, but her mother says she's traumatized. too afraid to stand next to windows and keeps asking if the glass is going to break again. this woman understand what the children are feeling. the blast was terrifying, it rekindled her own childhood memories from the second world war. most of the damage to buildings can be easily repaired, but the meteor's impact on some will take longer to heal.

russian scientists believe there might be some bigger fragments of the meteor at the bottom of this lake. some dyers have been in to take a look, visibility poor, they will take another look when the ice and snow melts in the spring. >> fascinating to see. phil black live. thank you very much. >> one of the coolest live shots. >> 52 minutes after the hour. danica patrick has made racing history before but never like this. patrick won the daytona 500 pole to be the first to secure the top spot in the premiere nascar race. does this increase her odds of actually winning the race? >> can we celebrate the victory for a minute. >> i am, but joe carter here with the bleacher report. how good are her chances? >> short answer? not so great. it means she will start in the front of the pack for the race, but doesn't necessarily mean she will win the race. the last driver to win the pole and daytona 500 was dale jared

in 2000, 13 years ago. it does increase the sport's popularity. jeff gordon, his daughter, he wanted her to take a picture next to danica patrick. dad, i don't want to take a picture with you, i want to take a picture with danica patrick. what does this mean to the history of nascar? and for her young fans out there? >> one of the coolest things, to be able to think that parents and their kids are having that conversation at home about it. and to -- you know, i've heard stories about a kid, boy or girl, saying, but mommy, daddy, that's a girl out there racing then they can have that conversation to say you can do anything you want to do, and gender doesn't matter. your passion is what matters. and that's cool. >> it is cool. all right. n nba's biggest event, brings out the biggest stars. last night the all-star game.

faces like p. diddy. and spike lee. a lot of dunks. d. wade and lebron james, off the backboard alley-oop. his head, look how close his head gets to the rim. that guy has major elevation. more of the same this time carmelo anthony to lebron james, the clippers chris paul named game's mvp, dished out 15 assists, scored 20 points. a very close one. 143-138. lots of offense. you can call this an old-school way of motivating a player. cal head coach gives alan kravin an earful and pushes his player square in the chest in a time-out. emotional moment. but i think it's sort of -- startled some, but really mott vated crabb, after the exchange, he returned and scored 14 of 23 points to help his team beat usc. 7 -66. for more sports news, go to

bleacherreport.com. watching that video guys, reminiscent of the bobby knight indiana days, seeing that, sports, a very emotional game at times. >> do not approve. >> thank you. they are cute, cuddly, and causing some costly damage at a major airport. look at that. how could that cost major damage? >> they are dangerous. >> the bunnies. the bunnies attack, that coming up next. are easy to remember with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas. no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy the most. [ woman ] it's as easy as... one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. it's not what you think. it's a phoenix with 4 wheels. it's a hawk with night vision goggles.

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rabbits. hundreds of those are doing thousands of damage to parked cars at denver international airport. they love to chew on ignition cables. airport officials hope granulated coyote urine will get rabbits out of their hair. >> a cure for so many things. that's all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin." starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> welcome, everybody. new this morning a double danger to your wallet. gas prices spike again, up 44 cents from the last month. plus citrus crops in danger from a florida freeze. what you need to watch for at the pump and grocery store. a tragic end to a troubled country music star's life. new details abou the death of